Indiana Jones Raiders of Lost Ark Brim

[ninman]

I'm looking to buy a hat that has a very similar brim style to the Raiders of the Lost Ark brim. In particular I want an Akubra hat because they are affordable and durable.

I know people say that between the DM Adventurer and the Federation 4 the latter is the more accurate of the 2 as an Indy hat. However, I think that the brim on the DM Adventurer hat more closely resembles the brim on Indy's hat.

The reason I say that is that his brim is kind of saddle shaped in the movie, that is its dipped at the front and the back, but the Federation 4 appears to be a snap brim with the rear brim turned up the way.

The DM Adventurer, however, has a more saddle shaped brim, so I'm thinking it's the more accurate of the two hats, in terms of the shape of the brim, not the overall specs.

Can anyone confirm whether his hat in the Raiders was a standard snap brim fedora, and if it was how did he get the brim to look kind of saddle shaped like it does. I've owned a few snap brim fedoras over the years, and can't get both the front and rear brims to curve down the way his does in the movie.

[Michaelson]

The 'dip' was caused by his pulling a round hat over a long oval head. It caused the brim to warp in the manner as seen in the film, so it has to do with shape of hat vs head, not the make or model.

I've had the Federation do this on my head, but I have a long oval shaped head, the Federation is more round than oval, so I'm lucky to have the same situation as Ford did when it came to that shape.

We've had several custom hat makers successfully recreate the 'swoop' in their models, but Ford's hat was an off the shelf HJ Poet that they bashed and cut the brim, then pulled it over Ford's head.....hence the swoop and the oft discussed 'turn' of the ribbon as he twisted the hat on his head to keep it from blowing off.

There was nothing 'custom' about the Raiders hat. It was 'make do' all the way. It wasn't until CS that a custom hat made for Ford to use in an Indy film.

Welcome, by the way!

Regard! Michaelson

[ninman]

Thanks for that. I've posted that question on a number of forums and that's the best answer I've had so far.

So would you say that a hat that already has the dip in it, i.e. the Adventurer would recreate that look better, or one with a standard snap brim like the Federation 4 if I put the turn in it like Harrison Ford did?

[Michaelson]

I would say any standard snap will do it, depending on your head shape.

The more the hat is forced to go in a direction it's not designed to go, it warps the brim, and therefore the 'swoop' is created.

Now, if you have a round head, and a round shaped hat, you will get no swoop at all, so you'll HAVE to depend on a 'faux' shape in the brim to re-create that look.

Like I said....it all depends.....

Regard! M

[ninman]

Can you tell me about this guy's hat?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLB4hBHLw64" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

His brim looks very much like the brim in Raiders. Is his hat also a Federation 4?

Also how do I tell if my head is more round, or oval shaped?

[Michaelson]

Hard to tell from his video as he's distressed the heck out of it, but it's definitely a Fed.

Simple answer to the long oval question, if your head is longer front to back in measurement than side to side, you're a oval or long oval head shape.

Here's a good discussion from a site we're related to (the owner used to be the webmaster here) that you may find of help in that regard:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/ ... val.51741/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regard! M

[fifthchamber]

That's Joey Peter Green.....He's a good English cosplayer...

His hat is a Fed. IV, for sure....And I'm not sure addressing the comment on YouTube to the uploader will help, the uploader isn't Joe....So he may (probably) not know anything at all about it...

Joe can be found on Facebook for sure...

[Chewbacca Jones]

Out of the box, it's unlikely that either hat will look the way you want. But what a hat looks like new, and what you can do with it, are two different things. Since both are Akubras, they will both take well to hand shaping with steam and patience. I don't really have a long oval head, but I can get a snap brim to look like an Indy brim. It may not be a snap anymore when done, but it possible.

My advice is to get the hat that has the measurements you prefer, then tweak the brim to your desired shape.